Being a parent is not easy. We run into all sorts of blahs, in parenthood. One thing I have found in the 10 years that I have been a parent is that a child does better in everything when they are rewarded. Want some help cleaning up, get your children involved, once the task is complete reward them with praises, or even surprises. When Gillian was younger we had a treasure chest, whenever she helped she received a treat.

She loved getting treats so she helped more, this has lead her to be extremely helpful now that she is older. With being homeschoolers when she does good with her schooling, such as a spelling test I like to find different printable certificates. I will take and print them out, sometimes they need colored on some, and I will write her name on them and present them to her.

I personally think this excites her and keeps her pushing for those good grades. In the 5 years we have been home schooling she will do something over and over again until she has it perfect. This started when she was first learning to write, she would erase a letter if it was not perfect. At first this scared me, until I learned after some research it was normal.

How do you reward your children for a job well done?

Next you will want to check into the curriculum you want to use. The first 3 years we schooled, we just used things found online, and Wal-mart. After your child starts 3rd grade you want a base curriculum. Unless, you decide to do what we will be doing next year. For the past 2 years we have used the Switched on Schoolhouse curriculum. I do like this curriculum, however, it is a bit to pricey, and with the economy being like it is, it is time we switched to something a lot cheaper.

Next year we will be switching over to the k-12 public home schooling. This will all be done about the same way we do things now. BUT she will have a real teacher. I am not saying I am not real, but some things, I myself get stumped on.

So if you are wanting to home school, but unsure because of the prices of the curriculum, I suggest you get into the k-12 program.

Do you often hear “mommy I am bored”, but you don’t have anything around the house but all the same things to do everyday. Maybe when you hear “mommy I am bored” you read your little one their favorite book, put their favorite movie on the TV, or maybe you sit on the floor and play dolls with your little one.

Have you ever thought about breaking out the craft supplies, and doing some arts and crafts with your child? Arts and crafts are a great way to get the little ones mind into creative mode, and what a fun way to help bring mommy and child closer. What no crafting products suitable for a preschool aged child? Not a problem, recently I was introduced to Shirley’s Prepackaged Crafts.

Shirley’s prepackages crafts are $18, unless you wish to purchase in advance, then you have a few other options. The main purpose of these craft boxes were to give moms an easy way to spend more time with their little ones. This helps take the stress of planning and preparing away from mom.

We recently received the Septembers craft box, and I have to say, it wasn’t what I was expecting.

I personally thought this was an awesome idea, it gives parents everything they need to do 12 projects with their little one. Not only does it give you the instructions, it also gives you everything you will need to do those 12 crafts. How awesome is that!

Want to check out these packages for yourself? One lucky reader of The Neat Things in Life, will get November’s craft package. In this package you will receive…

Please note you need your order in by the 15th of the month, and they ship the boxes out on the 20th. This helps them keep cost down, by preparing only the boxes they need to ship. If you use code Neat Things (case sensitive) you will get $2 off your first order. Plus there is free shipping!

So now on to the giveaway!

One reader will win Novembers craft box with the above items in their box. To enter you MUST complete the mandatory entry before moving on to the extras.

Mandatory: Head on over to Shirley’s Prepackaged Crafts and telling me something you learned.

Want Extra?

• Like Shirley’s Prepackaged Crafts on Facebook. (2x Comments)
• Follow Shirley’s Prepackaged Crafts on Twitter. (2x Comments)
• Become a Google Follower of Dizzy Mommy Chronicles. (2x Comments)
• Become a Google follower of The Neat Things in Life. (2x Comments)
• Follow MommysDizzy on twitter. (2x Comments)
• Like The Neat Things in Life on Facebook. (2x Comments)

Don’t forget to Connect with Shirley’s Prepackaged Crafts:
Website | Twitter | Facebook

Code for $2 off your first order: Neat Things

Giveaway ends on October 10th, @ 11:59pm EST. Winner will be picked via and the winner is plugin, and contacted via email. Winner will have 48 hours to contact me back so I can get your information over to the sponsor.

I received a craft box, all opinions are mine. No other form of payment was received.

The items we received were…

6 Pack of Washable Paints

80 Pack of Foam Cube Stamps

1500 Pony Beads

150 Pack Assorted Sizes of Wiggly Eyes

Button Magnets

Magnetic Sheets

Hemp Cords

30 Pack Paint Brushes

75 Count Jumbo Craft Sticks

Do you know all the fun we can have with these items? When my nieces stay the night we love breaking out all our craft items, and having fun being creative. What better way to cure boredom then a big tote of arts and craft products! I think one of the most important things in a child’s development at a young age is creativity.

One thing I love about craftprojectideas.com is all the how to’s! They give you step by step directions, so whether you are looking for fun things to do during a sleep over, rainy days,  or even something different to do in the classroom, you will find several ideas on this site.

I like the seasonal section, with Halloween coming up we will be making some Haunted Houses!

We will be using this site through-out the 2011/2012 school year. Not sure if you have all the items needed to do a project, not a problem, they also list everything you need, and you can purchase the items at your local Wal-Mart!

Check out the kitty key-chain we made!

I made my eyes on my kitty purple, because we didn’t have the green beads. This took me about 15 minutes to make, the directions were extremely easy to follow.

What sort of crafts do you do with your children? Do you join in, or do you stand on the sideline and offer your help?

I love joining in, I sit a long side my nieces and daughter and do things with them, I often hear, “hey you are suppose to be helping us” LOL

You can purchase these same items, at Wal-Mart in the craft section!

Connect With CraftProjectIdeas.com:

Website | Twitter | Facebook

I received product free from craftprojectideas.com to conduct my review, however, I made the kitty, and all opinions are my own.

I was told they teach them to keep their hands to themselves in kindergarten, I don’t know about all you mommas, but I know Gillian knew this before entering school. Then we had little girls throwing rocks at her on the playground, again nothing was done about it, a little girl thought it was funny to trip her, again nothing was done about this. I got so tired, of going to that school only to be given excuse and excuse.

The teacher went as far as to tell my daughter, NOT to be coming home and telling me everything. HELLO, someone is putting their hands on my child, yes she is to tell me. Or what about when my daughter’s shoe came untied, and her teacher told her she didn’t get paid to tie shoes, are you serious!

What finally drew the line, and made the homeschooling real, was when the school told me, and I quote “What are you going to do about it, she has to go to school”… Mmmhmm she sure does, I found a home school umbrella school, paid my fees, and switched her over. This was by far the best decision I could ever had made!

With me being a stay at home mom, Gillian had not been around large groups of kids, when she went to school she was always getting sick. School rule they must be fever free for 72 hours before they can go back to school. Gillian ended up missing 7 days because she was sick!

As of May 2011, the area I live in for the time being, has just came up with a new truancy law! All absences must follow a doctors note, so if you don’t have insurance you better have the money to cover the doctor bill for some stomach craps, because you will need that note from the doctor.

If your child has 5 or more unexcused absences you are in violation of the truancy laws… I believe if they are late for class 3 times, it is marked as an unexcused absence. I am not real clear on the law that just got passed in May, my husband’s nephew was telling us a little about it. If your child misses 15 days of school, without a doctors note, YOU face 11 months in jail, AND DHS gets involved and you can lose your child.

So let me get this right, you can murder your child, and get off, but if your child misses school YOU goto jail, and lose the child. Nice, love how our system works.

The great thing about being home schoolers, is we don’t have to worry about things like this, if Gillian is not feeling well, we just school on the weekends, we have no one breathing down our back telling us when we have to school. If we want to school at 5pm or 5am, that is our choice.

I feel for those parents, that cannot avoid the absences, because believe it or not sometimes things cannot be avoided, and in those cases a parent shouldn’t be charged with child neglect.

However, I was not the lucky winner, instead I got an email, and I asked if it was possible to do a review. To my surprise they said YES, and sent us the 12 Hole Tenor Ocarina (Special Edition) with Zelda Songbook and Protective Bag! This Ocarina retails for $94.70, and is on sale for $84.00.

STL Ocarina has several other ocarina’s in different designs and prices. Right now if you purchase an Ocarina, they also will give you free lessons online. How awesome is that!

Watch my husband’s review on The Legend of Zelda Ocarina

My thoughts:

I think this is awesome, and the fact that it is like the one Zelda has, makes it so much neater. I am extremely glad we had the opportunity to check it out, and I cannot wait until my daughter becomes a pro.

If you’re a homeschooler, and looking for a musical instrument that will keep your child interested this is it! You can also make this into a history lesson, by teaching your child the history of the Ocarina.

Connect with STL Ocarina:

Website | Facebook | Twitter | Youtube

I received product for review purposes only, no other form of payment was received. This didn’t alter my opinion in anyway.